Tag Archive for: female orgasm

Genital Anatomy in the News! Again. Confusion Still Reigns About the G-Spot.

Part One. So Is there Or Is There Not A G-Spot?

Due to the depth and complexity of information in both the original article and the media interpretation of it, I’ll be posting a series of blogs addressing various aspects of the female anatomy and orgasm debate and discussion.

Confusion Still Reigns

Is there a g-spot? A recent scientific article says no. Media outlets have hopped on that article and are promoting the idea that there’s nothing to play with inside a vagina. I say that while there is no structure that be accurately named the g-spot, there are indeed some delicious, erectile structures that can be accessed from inside the vagina to the great delight of the vagina owners.

Sad to say, we continue to have confusion and dissent among ‘experts’ as well as translation problems as press takes information from scientific journal articles and interprets (and often misstates it) for the general public.

After reading both the scientific article that started the furor and various media reports that paraphrase, misunderstand and twist the data, I’m ready to weigh in with my own sexpert opinions based on my education and clinical experience as a former certified nurse-midwife and gynecology practitioner, plus my current experience as a sexuality teacher and author.

The Anatomy of Sex

Let’s begin with the science—Anatomy of Sex: Revision of the New Anatomical Terms Used for the Clitoris and the Female Orgasm, by sexologists Vincenzo Puppo and Giulla Puppo, published in the forthcoming issue of Clinical Anatomy.  (And, by the way, media folk, this is a literature review, not a study.)

One aspect of their basic argument is that sexologists, scientists and health care providers should use anatomically correct terminology. I agree insofar as terms such as G-spot and internal/inner clitoris are inaccurate and best not used. I disagree with the scientists, however, about what terms we should be using instead, what’s actually there, and how it operates.

The Female Erectile Network

As I point out in my book, Women’s Anatomy of Arousal: Secret Maps to Buried Pleasure, women have what I call the Female Erectile Network: a set of interconnected but separate erectile structures made up of the three parts of the clitoris, the paired vestibular bulbs, the urethral sponge and the perineal sponge. They are connected both functionally and structurally. While the Puppos’ article discusses the three parts of the clitoris and the vestibular bulbs, they neglect to consider the more internal erectile structures: the urethral and perineal sponges. These are important components of the female erectile network. While the Puppos are proposing “female penis” for the descriptor of this collection of erectile structures, I strongly believe Female Erectile Network is more useful and descriptive and far less confusing then naming a female body part after a male one.

While it’s beyond the scope of this article to go into detail about each of the female erectile structures, I do want to point out a few salient bits of information about the network. Pound for pound and inch for inch, women have just as much erectile tissue as men do. Each of the network’s structures is composed of erotically responsive erectile tissue, and with proper stimulation, each can become engorged. While women can become aroused and orgasmic with only some of the network activated, for maximum pleasure, get the whole network engorged. When all of the separate structures are engorged, the erectile network becomes like a snug and stretchy cuff of delightfully responsive equipment. Getting one component stimulated and engorged is good. Getting the whole network puffed up and pleasured is way better!

Let me go into a bit more detail about the urethral sponge (so named in the ground-breaking 1981 book, New View of A Women’s Body). It’s also known as the female prostate, since embryologically it’s formed from the same tissue that becomes the prostate gland in males. It’s composed of spongy erectile tissue that forms a cylindrical tube that surrounds the tube of the urethra. It’s rather like a roll of paper towels, with the urethra being like the cardboard tube, while the erectile tissue is like the paper towels. When unaroused, it’s as if you’re near the end of the roll. With proper and pleasurable stimulation, the sponge swells and becomes more like a brand new jumbo roll. The Puppos refer to the urethral sponge as the “corpus spongiosum of the female urethra,” but neglect to connect that to the ongoing controversy about whether or not there’s a g-spot.

Here’s a little-known fact lots of people miss—the underside of the tubular sponge is what in common (and incorrect) parlance is known as the g-spot. I prefer not to use that term. It is not a spot—it’s the bottom of the tube of the urethral sponge. So while I can truthfully say that the ‘g-spot’ as an anatomical structure doesn’t exist, the erectile tissue known as the urethral sponge most assuredly does. Got it? There is no g-spot, but there is a urethral sponge—an engorgeable (and potentially pleasurable) erectile tissue tube that lies just above the roof of the vagina. The Puppos are correct that the g-spot is not a part of the vagina. The urethral sponge is not a part of the vagina itself, as it lies right above the ‘roof’ (anterior wall) of the vagina. However, it can be stimulated is through the vaginal roof, so from the lay point of view it is ‘inside’ the vagina since it can be accessed that way.

And the media? Here’s an example of its hyperbolic and inaccurate response (these from Lizzie Crocker in “The Truth About Female Orgasms: Look to the Clitoris, Not the Vagina” in The Daily Beast): “A new study claims the G-spot is nothing more than a ‘scientific fraud,’” and “Thanks to the two Puppos and their clarifying study, women can finally stop digging around for their G-spots.”

WRONG! Women have erectile tissue that can be stimulated intra-vaginally, it’s just not a g-spot. It’s the bottom of the urethral sponge and I do recommend that women (and their lovers) discover it.

Who Wins The Battle of the Sexperts?

Can’t figure out which ‘sexpert’ is right? How about if you all check it out for yourselves? You can become your own expert and solve the question for yourself!

Let me invite you to do a bit of homework. (This is a shortened version of the suggested guided tour of The Succulent Sponge exploration from my book. If you own the aforementioned equipment, you can do this exploration solo. (It’s written from the female perspective.) If you don’t have female equipment of your own, you’ll need a lab partner for this experiment.

Guided Tour of the Succulent Sponge

Begin in an unaroused state. Put one or two of your fingers inside your vagina, turn the pads of your fingers up, curl them and reach up, exploring the roof.

Remember as you go on your guided tour that this is erectile tissue that you’re feeling, so during stage one of your exploration, that is, in a completely unaroused state, it won’t feel like anything in particular. Since the urethral sponge surrounds the urethra, when you push against the non-puffed tissue, you’ll really be rubbing almost directly on your urethra( pee tube). It will probably make you feel like you need to pee. For most women, this is not an erotic sensation.

Play with yourself (or get help from a partner) and get moderately aroused.

Now, feel it again. Notice the differences in size and sensation. It probably won’t feel irritating anymore, but it may not feel great, either.

Return to sexual pleasuring and get to high level arousal.

Feel inside again. When your urethral sponge is really big and puffed, you’ll be able to feel the whole two to three inch length of it. You’ll also notice its ridged or ribbed texture. If you separate your fingers a bit, you can run them along the gutters or sides of the tube. If you can reach in far enough, you’ll feel where it ends. When you play with it for awhile, you may notice that it starts to feel like a wet sponge, as if it’s full of tiny fluid-filled grapes.

If you’re using a mirror, you can see some interesting sights. If you hold your vagina open and look inside with a light, you’ll see the roof bulging boldly down into your vaginal canal. You can also note the raised circular ring that’s the end of the tube surrounding the opening of your urethra.

Pleasuring Female Parts

Here’s a little tip about pleasuring female parts: most women prefer to have their erectile tissue played with after it’s at least partially engorged. If you or your playmate are pressing the urethral sponge too early in arousal it will usually not only not feel good, it will often feel irritating. Save sponge stimulation for high level arousal and if playing with it doesn’t feel good—back out and turn up the turn on before returning to inner sponge play.

For a more detailed version of your home play assignment, detailed anatomy descriptions and unique illustrations, please see my book, Women’s Anatomy of Arousal: Secret Maps to Buried Pleasure.

In part two of Female Orgasm and Genital Anatomy in the News, I’ll look at the vaginal vs. clitoral orgasm controversy and explain why all the fuss is misguided.


For a few orgasmic pointers, I invite you to download a free Orgasmic Abundance e-book.

For lots more details, illustrations and guides to discovering all of the female pleasure equipment, I invite you to read my award-winning book, Women’s Anatomy of Arousal: Secret Maps to Buried Pleasure.

For in-depth information, my recently released book, Succulent SexCraft: Your Hands-On Guide to Erotic Play & Practice expands on many of the ideas in this article, such as how to use your ‘sexcraft toolkit’ to expand your pleasure.


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Discover the Source of Female Ejaculation

Nectar of Life

In ancient India, female ejaculate was known as sacred Amrita or the Nectar of Life. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, it’s called White Moon Flower Medicine. Western science is beginning to catch up with this ancient wisdom, but while there is more research then previously, we still lack a consensus about the existence of many of the structures that make up the whole female genitalia and the process of female ejaculation.

The Erectile Network

Women have a network of interconnected structures that are all made of erectile tissue. I call it the Erectile Network. The Erectile Network is a matrix of structures that includes all three parts of the clitoris, the paired vestibular bulbs, the perineal sponge and the urethral sponge. Women can become aroused and orgasmic by stimulating any of these structures (or in many other non-genital ways as well) but, in general the best arousal and orgasms happen when all of these structures are thoroughly stimulated.

Erectile Equality

Pound for pound, inch for inch the female erectile network contains the same amount of erectile tissue as a penis. Erectile tissue is mostly composed of erectile capillaries, which are tiny specialized blood vessels that have the capacity to fill with blood. This is engorgement which is what causes erectile tissue to swell, become harder and more sensitive.

splashing-164171_1280The Super Soaker Sponge

One of the structures in the network is the urethral sponge (aka the female prostate since it’s analogous to the male prostate). The urethral sponge is a tube that surrounds the tube of the urethra – think of it like a roll of paper towels surrounding the inner cardboard tube. It’s located above the roof of the vagina. The bottom of the tube is what is currently (and incorrectly) being referred to as the G-Spot.

The urethral sponge is comprised of both erectile and glandular tissue. The glands are the Paraurethral Glands (aka the Skene’s Glands). They’re tiny tubular structures that are enmeshed in the erectile capillaries — think of them like the hair roots of a plant threaded throughout the soil of the erectile tissue. The tubular glands end in about thirty openings along the urethra, with two slightly larger ducts just inside or just outside the urethral orifice. In other words, the glandular tubules empty into the urethral canal. In some women, there are additional openings along the sides of the vaginal vestibule.

These glands are the source of female ejaculate. The fluid originates in the circulatory system. The watery part of the blood, the plasma diffuses through the wall of the capillaries, enters the glandular tubule, mixes with the products of the gland and then emerges into the urethra. From there it can either emerge from the urethral opening or back-up into the bladder.

More Ejaculate Info

Female ejaculation is the expulsion of that fluid in a drip, gush or squirt. It can be a few drops, a small puddle or a huge flood. In fact, since the original source of the liquid is the circulatory system, there’s a huge fluid reservoir and women can continue to make fluid and have repeated and profuse amounts of ejaculate.

Women may squirt once or repeatedly, occasionally, sometimes, frequently, or always. Female ejaculation doesn’t always accompany orgasm. It can happen with high level arousal although for many women it does commonly happen with orgasm.

rain-1563957_1920Ejaculate is not urine, although it spurts out from the urethra. That’s the same hole pee comes out of, so it’s understandable that people might think it’s urine. But it’s not yellow, doesn’t smell like pee, doesn’t have the same chemical make-up as urine (no urea, no nitric acid). That’s because it’s not urine and doesn’t originate from the bladder. The fluid does contain Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) and Prostatic Acid Phosphatase just as the male prostate fluid does.

Amrita Isn’t Lube

Is it the same as vaginal lubrication? No. vaginal lubrication comes from the inner walls of the vagina and it’s slick and slippery. Ejaculate comes from the paraurethral glands, emerges from the urethral opening and it’s watery.

Natural AND Learnable

While some women are natural ejaculators, it’s a learnable skill and any woman can learn to do it. It’s not required. This is a totally optional skill. I will say though that having ejaculatory orgasms is a mind-boggling, intense and goddess-like experience, so it may be something that you want to learn to do! Being a gushing goddess (or being with a gushing goddess) is glorious!


Read More Blog Posts

BE VULVA WISE: What Does That Mean? “Read more about the erectile network and radical genital anatomy from your personal anatomy geek!”

Is there Or Is There Not A G-Spot? “Confusion Still Reigns – Clear It Up Now!”

G-Spot Reality Check “Is There or Is There Not A G-Spot?”

The Missing Female Pleasure Parts “The Search for Buried Pleasure”


Read the Book

Women’s Anatomy of Arousal — Secret Maps to Buried Pleasure to see more detailed images of these structures, to learn more about all the parts that women really have and the amazing things they can learn to do with them.

Take An Online Course

Another way to learn is to ‘attend’ (watch) any of these recorded Online Courses:


 

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Ms. Orgasm Responds

Hi, Sheri Winston here. Ms. Orgasm, as they dubbed me on Strange Sex.

To clarify: I never claimed to have had 15,000 orgasms in my lifetime or ‘with the power of my mind’. They made that up. Nor did I say that my record for non-genital orgasms was five in a day. That’s just silly. And, seriously, who’s counting? (Though if I was, the number would be considerably  higher!) I guess the folks at Strange Sex felt they needed to add this as part of their branding script, but it had nothing to do with me. In fact, adding such meaningless invented statistics betrays a serious lack of understanding of what orgasms are all about—both genital and non-genital. People’s orgasmic potential is virtually unlimited: an orgasm can last an hour or more, and people can have dozens or even hundreds of orgasms in a day. Orgasms can be the result of direct genital stimulation, non-genital play or completely hands-off responses. There’s an enormous and varied realm of orgasmic experiences.

Gervex-Woman-Tosed-by-a-WaveIt is true that I’ve had an amazing abundance of orgasms in my life. But it’s not that I was blessed by the orgasm fairy at birth or have really, really great sex karma. These are all things that I learned to do. And the point isn’t even really what abilities I’ve cultivated. The important point is that anyone who wants to can learn these skills as well.

I consented to appear on Strange Sex not because I took any particular pleasure in exhibiting my orgasmic capabilities to the world (despite the evidence, I’m actually a pretty private person!), but because it’s part of my mission as a sex teacher to let people know that they have extraordinary erotic potential, far more than most people imagine.

I’ve learned to develop my spectacular orgasmic abilities through decades of practice. By that, I mean both through personal sexual practice, as well as in my professional practice. OK, get a grip, I don’t mean as a sex worker—I mean as a nurse-midwife and childbirth educator for over two decades and then as a sex teacher for more than a dozen years. It may surprise you to learn that all the skills that help women have wonderful births are the same as those that lead to spectacular sex. But it’s true! That’s how I got my start in learning to expand my erotic abilities—teaching women how to use their mind, body, heart and spirit to maximize their chances of having a natural, empowering and even ecstatic birth.

Here’s the key point, though. Anyone who wants to can expand their ability to get intensely aroused, have awesome orgasms and develop erotic mastery. You see, for us humans, sex is both natural and learned. Yes, we learn sex! It’s just like learning to play an instrument or speak another language—a set of complex intertwined skills that build on a natural inherent framework. Except that it’s easier to find someone to teach you piano or take French classes than it is to find someone to teach you how to have amazing connection with your own sexual energy (and with others, if you choose).

While the TLC show focused on non-genital orgasms, that’s just a small piece of what it’s possible to learn to experience. Even in the non-genital orgasm category, there are a variety of learnable experiences, including hands-off orgasms (sometimes referred to as ‘thinking off’) as well as orgasms through stimulation of non-genital body parts. In fact, some people who are para- or quadriplegics have learned to have orgasms from stimulation of their fingers or mouth—a testament to the plasticity of the human brain and the ability to learn.

If you doubt this, I have a question for you. Have you ever had an orgasm in your dreams? If so, you’ve had a non-genital orgasm!

As for whether I’m faking it or not, I have two responses. If you’re looking for data, check out the experiments being done at Rutgers University by Whipple, Komisaruk and Wise, using an MRI to document the ability to ‘think off’ and demonstrating that in terms of physiological response, it’s no different than the traditional genitally stimulated orgasm.

vanity-Gustav Wertheimer_V4My second response though, may be more to the point. You don’t need to believe me. In fact, I urge you to be skeptical of all official experts, including me. Become your own expert. Check it out for yourself. If you really want to know what’s possible, experiment with various techniques, play and practice, and discover your own abilities. Find the way to connect with and expand your own pleasure pathways. Discover for yourself how to expand your turn-on and amp up your orgasmic abilities.

You can learn how to respond to a wider range of stimuli, to have extended orgasms or non-genital orgasms. You can go for total erotic virtuosity. Or not. It’s up to you. For most people, non-genital orgasms are an advanced skill that will take years of practice, although there are always those who are very quick learners!

Please do remember though, there’s no right or wrong way. There’s only what works for you. It’s not a competitive sport or more things on your overcrowded to-do list. It’s play. Sexy, sacred, awesome, ecstatic, sweaty, sweet play. Whatever you do, focus on the pleasure and whatever enhances the connection to yourself and your partners. And, some day you may surprise yourself, when without direct genital play, your sexual energy explodes in a wild and wonderful way. Then you’ll know that all sorts of orgasm are possible and you can have what I’m having.


OLC_Succulent_SexCraft_Website header_ProductLearn how here:

Succulent SexCraft Online Course
Four Wednesdays: September 28, October 5, 12, 19. 8 pm ET

Get all the fundamentals of SexCraft and learn to develop mastery of your erotic experience.

This is the FOUNDATION for everything else Sheri teaches. All her other classes, all her books, all her teaching starts with this: Learning to play your own ‘instrument’ and developing mastery of your own erotic abilities.

Amplify your PLEASURE. Expand your AROUSAL. Magnify your ORGASMS!


 

Non-Genital Orgasms: Question & Answer

Illustration - Baruffi - Woman on Wave

Baruffi – Woman on Wave

My “Ms Orgasm” segment on TLC’s Strange Sex is about my ability to have (and teach others to have) hands-off orgasms. That’s led to some questions, one of which I want to answer here.

NGOs? What do non-governmental organizations have to do with sex? Oh, you mean non-genital orgasms! Oh, well, that I get!

But not everyone will understand this phrase. Having been dubbed Ms. Orgasm for my segment on TLC’s Strange Sex show, I’ve been getting some good questions from folks about what an non-genital orgasm is. So here goes!

Here’s the question. Clarify please: an NGO means no genital stimulation is required to arouse an orgasm but the genitals are still affected? Yes? No?

Great question! A variety of experiences fall into the non-genital orgasm category. It includes having orgasms from stimulation of other body parts. The easiest to learn/experience are parts like nipples, nape of the neck, fingers and mouth as these have hard-wired connected pathways to the genitals. Also included is the ability to have what I call ‘hands-off’ orgasms. Some people call it ‘thinking off.’ These are orgasms that result from using inner pathways and usually utilize breath, sound, intention, imagery, movement and sound. That’s what I was doing on the show.

The key to all of it is that these are LEARNABLE skills for anyone and everyone who wants to learn. NGO skills tend to be advanced abilities that take some practice and training, although some folks can just ‘get it’ and off they go. (Or come.)

By the way, this is for both solo and partnered folks. You can learn to do these things by yourself or with a friend or friends!

And, finally, yes the genitals are affected, though in varying degrees. Men can have experiences that do or don’t involve erection (which is NOT required for orgasm). For women, there is generally lubrication and engorgement, although again it may or may not be to the degree attained with direct stimulation.

MRI studies of ‘thinking off’ demonstrated that in terms of physiological response, NGOs are no different than the traditional genitally stimulated orgasm.

I hope that answers your questions. Please let me know if you have more.

Will a Vibrator Cause Nerve Damage? Vibrator Series (part 2)

Another vibrator myth toppled. Vibrator use will not cause temporary or irreparable damage! Allow me to explain …

 

Do Women Really Have a G-Spot?

Yes, women do have a wonderful internal place that responds to the right kind of stimulation, at the right time — I just don’t call it a g-spot. Find out what it is.

Also, check out this blog post: G-Spot Reality Check.